PJ Crowley, the assistant secretary of state for public affairs at the US state department, has said Manning is being “mistreated” in the military brig at Quantico, Virginia. “What is being done to Bradley Manning is ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid on the part of the department of defence.”

Crowley’s comments are the first sign of a crack within the Obama administration over the handling of the WikiLeaks saga in which hundreds of thousands of confidential documents were handed to the website.

Crowley served 26 years in the Air Force, stationed at home and abroad, but with no apparent particular emphasis in detention or internal security issues. Furthermore, he’s not at the Pentagon now, nor is he at the Department of Justice, the other agency that could exert jurisdiction. There isn’t anything to suggest that Crowley has any expertise in this area, either in general or specific to Manning’s detention.

In fact, while I was writing this post, Barack Obama told Jake Tapper in the press conference this morning that the circumstances of Manning’s detention relate to his “safety,” and that he has already consulted with the Pentagon on the matter and is apparently satisfied. Crowley has therefore put himself — and the State Department — in the position of criticizing not just the Pentagon but the Commander-in-Chief as well. Is that the role of the State Department, to offer itself as a critic of all other aspects and operations of the executive branch?

The White House needs to hit the “reset button” with its State Department, or more appropriately, the “eject” button with respect to Crowley.

Does one get the feeling that no one, not a single person talks to anyone else in bho’s team? They all come off as total idiots! It would appear that each one tries to outdo the others with their idiot statements. manning is just where he needs to be and is being treated better than the rop type treat out military and citizens.
L

A billion dollars, they hope, will change the public’s currently low opinion of the Obama administration. Yet it cannot change one very good reason why the public has come to its opinion, which is that his has been a clerkship presidency. A glorified clerkship, no doubt, but a clerkship nonetheless.

Kennedy’s challenged us to ask not what we can do for ourselves, but for our country.

Logic101 says that this is the most illogical of all statements.

Vote this ignorant narcissistic turd out. It’s the best you can do for you and your progeny.

HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) — The Marine Corps says it has issued a suicide-proof sleeping garment to the imprisoned Army private suspected of giving classified material to WikiLeaks.

Col. Thomas Johnson said Thursday that Pfc. Bradley Manning was given the smock Monday as a substitute for clothing that is removed each night from Manning’s cell at the brig in Quantico, Va.

Manning says in a memo to base commander Col. Daniel Choike that the clothing-removal order on March 2 was punitive. He says the bulky smock is uncomfortable.

Manning’s memo is a rebuttal of Choike’s decision on March 1 to deny Manning’s request for an easing of the maximum-custody order that keeps him locked up alone 23 hours a day.

HT: Drudge.

As Akzed noted, Manning has been making smarta$$ remarks about killing himself. The military has to take these remarks seriously. If anything happened to Manning, it would be the miltary’s fault…or that they “faked a suicide” – whichever lefty meme works.

I’m thinking Osama Obama is the guiding force behind Crowley’s comments. After all, if both positions are covered by his lapdogs, the Traitor-in-Chief can look “balanced” and agree with anyone who questions him. Hid did say he was “looking into it….”

Personally, if Poor Li’l Bradley is feeling like doin’ himself in, I’d place a weapon, rope and plenty of pills in his cell….

The big issue is how in the hell a private had access to such a huge quantity of information. While Manning is responsible for his actions, the State Department’s security allowed him to access sensitive diplomatic cables from all over the place, un-noticed (?).

I am gobsmacked by the mindboggling incompetence of these people. At least with Bush and Clinton their people were all on the same page. Obamas people fight with each other in public and then get all upset because their”messaging” isn’t working. Really? Maybe if you could get the message to be consistent you’d be better off.

The big issue is how in the hell a private had access to such a huge quantity of information. While Manning is responsible for his actions, the State Department’s security allowed him to access sensitive diplomatic cables from all over the place, un-noticed (?).

Venril on March 11, 2011 at 3:32 PM

He probably Googled the information. You can pretty well get anything you want to know or see from Google’s links. I think if the history of the final fall of America if ever written, (hopefully it never will be) future historians will conclude that the great secret weapon the enemies of America had in their victory was Google.

Crowley served 26 years in the Air Force
There’s your explanation right there.

GarandFan on March 11, 2011 at 3:13 PM

Hey buddy, I usually enjoy your posts but now you’re pushing your luck. I spent twenty six years in the Air Force and I’d like to see that little turd dangling from the end of a rope. After the fair trial, of course…

Okay, so I NEVER agree with Hamsher, Greenwald, et.al. – but in this case I do:

1) Currently, Bradley Manning has not been convicted of ANYTHING. If he is accused of treasonous activities, by all means have a trial, then shoot him if he’s guilty. To have an American Citizen detained and incarcerated for months with no official charges is not only counterproductive, it is criminal.

2) Read the following, detailing his treatment while in custody – and this is ongoing:

3) It is unacceptable for a civilized people to treat one of their own citizens in such a manner.

According to everything I’ve read about Manning’s treatment, it is designed to break him psychologically.

Consider. He made a smart-assed comment about committing suicide with his briefs – after he was being treated as a suicide risk when all the psychiatrists said he was not a risk. So he has to sleep nude, and then stand outside his cell, NUDE, every morning. He is only allowed out of his cell 1 hour out of 24 – and then he is shackled. He is under constant surveillance. If he curls up (naked) in his bed, the guards wake him up and make him move to where they can see him.

HE HAS NOT YET BEEN CONVICTED OF ANY CRIME!

So. If he is guilty – try the SOB. Let the full hammer of justice rain down upon his head. But to treat an American citizen this way just because he’s under suspicion…Think, if the Obama Administration can do this to an individual just under suspicion, what else can they get away with?

I am appalled at the nonchalance at his treatment. Again, hold a trial. Convict him. Give him the maximum penalty. But the fact that an unconvicted citizen is being treated this way is an abomination to all that we as Americans (and conservatives) should hold dear.

Crowley, the assistant secretary of State for public affairs, participated in a student forum at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Thursday, and was asked his thoughts on the “torturing” of Manning.

He didn’t respond to the allegation, but then went on to describe Manning’s treatment as “ridiculous, counterproductive and stupid, and I don’t know why DoD is doing it.” Crowley said, however, that “Bradley Manning is in the right place,” adding that “there is a need for secrets” in Washington.

I’m guessing that the M.I.T. kid who asked this silly question also takes classes there taught by Noam Chumpsky.

OK, first, if Crwoley doesn’t have any expertise in this, neither do any of us.

Second, making Manning sleep naked because he made a sarcastic comment about how he could have committed suicide already if he was really suicidal? That’s just stupid.

That’s the sort of mindless “zero tolerence” bullshit that leads to kids getting expelled because they had a motrin pill in their pocket, or because they drew a picture of a gun.

Lock this guy up like any other traitor, try him and then let him hang…

EFG on March 11, 2011 at 4:12 PM

My brother was a cop in the AirForce and he did a lot of time guarding prisoners. He would probably do the same thing because he said if a prisoner did the deed on your watch there was no end to the paperwork and investigations as to why a prisoner that stated he would commit suicide was not watched.

I agree this guy thought it was cute to dump classified information, as he thought he would get away with it just like all the other people leaking stuff in the previous administration. Didn’t work out the way he thought and I hope the military make a shining example of this twit for the next would be leaker.

Okay, so I NEVER agree with Hamsher, Greenwald, et.al. – but in this case I do

LOL! Admitting that you read those two wastes of bandwidth in the first place wasn’t a smart thing to do.

So he has to sleep nude, and then stand outside his cell, NUDE, every morning. He is only allowed out of his cell 1 hour out of 24 – and then he is shackled. He is under constant surveillance. If he curls up (naked) in his bed, the guards wake him up and make him move to where they can see him.

See: Wethal on March 11, 2011 at 3:13 PM for a debunking of the nude sleeping meme.

BTW, Manning signed away some of his rights as a US citizen when he joined the service. But military-haters like Jane Hamster and Glenn Greenwald would never know that.

Its called ‘pre-trial confinement’ for you non-military types. He can and will be held in such a manner until the outcome of any court martial. I can’t remember the actual MCM reference, but there it is.

Manning belongs to the military, not the pansy-a$$ DoJ.

As to his “mistreatment”: If he wanted clothes, he shouldn’t have smarted off as you put it. Suicidal remarks made by a person in confinement necessarily require a SOP to be followed. Its his own damn fault he’s under ‘suicide watch’ or closer scrutiny.

Is he being fed? How many times a day? Is he getting medical treatment if he needs it? Does he have access to counsel? Is his cell temperature controlled? Is he exposed to the elements? Can he send and receive mail? He gets one hour outside – pretty standard for anyone in pretty much any American system if they are in solitary.

Not to put to fine a point on this if he didn’t want to be in the situation he’s in, he should have acted the way befitting an honorable person. He didn’t. He committed a crime, everyone knows it, he’s admitted it. Yeah, the military justice system can plod along, but thats the way it is.

Re primary challenge, when Hillary laid-off her makeup and hair staff and let her appearance go to h, that was a sure sign that she was hanging it up on running for anything ever again. Howie Dean is a more likely challenger.

A challenge to little Bammie from the left would be a wonder to behold.

If you’re old enough to remember 1950s “Reader’s Digest” articles about Soviet political prisoners, you’ll recognise the treatment being handed out to Manning. The State Department may be finding the similarity embarrassing.